how many batteries?
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0 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22
how many batteries?
I am new to forum.I have a Alpine mrd-1000 and a alpine 4 channel 100 x 4 at 2 ohms.This will be going into a 60' TUGBOAT that a buddy bought just for cruising around.I would like it to play as long as possible without having to start tug.What am i looking at for batteries as I didn't have this issue when it was in my car.Room is no problem and i am trying to stay as cheap as possible.thanks
500 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
Well, there's many factors you gotta include in your decision.
At lower volumes, one yellow top should last a couple hours, maybe three or four. You won't get much more than two years out of a single yellow top though, as what you're planning is "extreme" use to a battery, far different than a battery in a car.
At moderate volumes, you're going to need to at least double if not triple the capacity...
So yes, Yuli's Hawker's would be great, but you'd need more than one. Doncha have two still Yuli?
But being a boat, and assuming you'd stay at moderate volumes most of the time and cranked only once in a while, I'd set up a larger battery bank. Two or four six volt GC (Golf Cart) batteries would work very well, if you supplemented them with a 1f capacitor. Better yet would be sealed, gel-type 6V GC (or Hawker's, or big Optima's, or similar) batteries, as they're much more efficient, but at double the cost of normal batteries, and decreased life. There are bigger ones too, known as scrubber batteries.
With proper maintenance and regular use, you should get 3 or 5 years out of a set of GC's.
You'll need a damn good alternator on the tug, and a good charger for when you're able to plug into shore power (an alternator isn't good enough to charge discharged batteries regularly, no matter how good or big the alternator is). Solar panels may help too, but you'd need pretty big ones, expense would be an issue for solar.
But you said cheap as possible. So find a couple of GC batteries, they can be had in the $100 range (each), and a good battery charger. Hook it up, try it out, upgrade to a second set if desired in the future.
You should consider a low voltage alarm too, amps and electronics don't like the voltage to drop to low, so a simple beeper set up to go off when the volts drop to low would be wise.
At lower volumes, one yellow top should last a couple hours, maybe three or four. You won't get much more than two years out of a single yellow top though, as what you're planning is "extreme" use to a battery, far different than a battery in a car.
At moderate volumes, you're going to need to at least double if not triple the capacity...
So yes, Yuli's Hawker's would be great, but you'd need more than one. Doncha have two still Yuli?
But being a boat, and assuming you'd stay at moderate volumes most of the time and cranked only once in a while, I'd set up a larger battery bank. Two or four six volt GC (Golf Cart) batteries would work very well, if you supplemented them with a 1f capacitor. Better yet would be sealed, gel-type 6V GC (or Hawker's, or big Optima's, or similar) batteries, as they're much more efficient, but at double the cost of normal batteries, and decreased life. There are bigger ones too, known as scrubber batteries.
With proper maintenance and regular use, you should get 3 or 5 years out of a set of GC's.
You'll need a damn good alternator on the tug, and a good charger for when you're able to plug into shore power (an alternator isn't good enough to charge discharged batteries regularly, no matter how good or big the alternator is). Solar panels may help too, but you'd need pretty big ones, expense would be an issue for solar.
But you said cheap as possible. So find a couple of GC batteries, they can be had in the $100 range (each), and a good battery charger. Hook it up, try it out, upgrade to a second set if desired in the future.
You should consider a low voltage alarm too, amps and electronics don't like the voltage to drop to low, so a simple beeper set up to go off when the volts drop to low would be wise.
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